What do the Experts Have to Say?
In this video from the Pearson Foundation, a group of eight professionals give brief insights into their experience with the opportunities provided through online education. This discussion is unique not only because it combines inside perspectives (from awarded online teachers) with outside perspectives (from education boards and state departments) but also because these individuals actually believe that online learning provides an increased opportunity for teachers to connect on an individual level with students.
Chris Dede (Harvard Graduate School of Education):
We often think of a teacher as somebody who is really good at presenting, but I think online you have the chance to listen much more deeply. Face to face, only one person can talk at a time. Online, many people can talk at a time. And being able to listen, and to hear the individual voices of students, and to figure out where each one of them is, and to tailor your responses to them in a way that really personalizes and customizes to them -- that's a really important part of being a good online teacher.
Wendy Oliver (Hamilton County Dept. of Education)
One of the most innovative practices in education is the concept of meeting students where they are, and being able to individualize instruction to meet those students. And that I think is achieved through online learning, which could include mobile devices, hybrid, one-to-one initiatives; there are so many different ways you can allow school districts to personalize the technology in order to meet the needs of the students.
Joan Lord (Southern Regional Education Board)
We wanted students to have access to a core curriculum that was of high quality, that was accessible day or night, that was accessible without having to wait in lines or waiting from semester to semester to be able to get into courses.
Melinda Maddox (Alabama Dept. of Education)
There's no way every school in the state of Alabama could hire a Mandarin Chinese teacher. So many schools in the state of Alabama did not even offer any AP classes. And so now we have over 60 courses that we're able to offer to any student in the state of Alabama that before, they didn't have those opportunities.
Teresa Dove (Florida Virtual School, National Online Teacher of the Year)
We use anything from videos to Web 2.0 tools (such as blogs, wikis, Twitter, Facebook) to reach our students. So, it's innovative not only with the technologies but also with the teaching practices, because it's a whole different realm from when you were in the classroom.
Steven Sproles (Finalist - National Online Teacher of the Year)
The role is changing from simply being a deliverer of information to being much more of a facilitator, much more of a coach.
Allison Powell (International Association for K-12 Online Learning)
I taught kindergarten through eighth grade online, and just working with those kids, and the major difference between the relationships you have with those kids in the online world -- you're so much closer to them than in the face-to-face classroom, which sounds really weird, but it's so individualized that you really get to know those kids.
Matlea Parker (Southern Regional Education Board)
And the parents are thankful that they are able to communicate with the teacher. They're grateful to know that they can go online and see what their child is doing.
Wendy Oliver (Hamilton County Dept. of Education)
Online learning is an opportunity for our teachers and students to actually create what they want education to look like 20 or 30 years from now. And in all reality we don't know what online learning is going to be in 20 or 30 years, but what we do know is, we're on the cutting edge right now. We're giving teachers opportunities to do things that they really wanted to do that they didn't have before.
Teresa Dove (Florida Virtual School, National Online Teacher of the Year)
It's about the kids, and that's what's most important to me. In this realm I can reach more and do more with them then I ever could in a brick and mortar school.
